On the heels of a new report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that predicts New England electricity costs could rise by 10 to 18 percent this summer, state Sen. Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) is urging business owners and homeowners to shop around for lower electricity rates by visiting: http://www.ctenergyinfo.com/display_rates.htm.

“There are about a dozen different companies in the Northeast that will sell electricity to you cheaper than CL&P. Dealing directly with an energy provider and skipping the middleman can save you as much as 16 percent per month on the generation portion of your electric bill,” Sen. Gerratana said. “If electricity prices go up this summer as much as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is predicting, businesses and homeowners can save significant sums if they change their energy supplier from CL&P to another private company. It’s absolutely free, it’s easy to do, and the savings continue indefinitely.”

The FERC report noted that while national energy demands and power reserves are not expected to increase significantly over last summer, the rising price of natural gas – which many Northeastern energy producers use to power their turbines – is going to increase electricity costs by 10 to 18 percent in the peak usage months of July and August. The FERC report is available at: http://www.ferc.gov/market-oversight/mkt-views/2011/05-19-11.pdf

Sen. Gerratana noted that, at today’s rates, homeowners buying an average of 750kW (kilowatts) per month from CL&P can switch suppliers and save as much as $11.27 per month on the average $71.12 ‘generation service charge’ or ‘GSC’ portion of their electric bill, a 15.84% savings. Depending on the electricity company chosen, monthly savings can range from as little as $3-6 per month to as much as $10-$11.27 per month.

She also noted that, at today’s rates, a business buying an average of 2,000kW per month

from CL&P can switch suppliers and save as much as $33.76 per month on the average $203.76 GSC portion of their electric bill, a 16.56% savings. Depending on the electricity company chosen, monthly savings can range from $18-$24 per month or as much as $30 or $33.76 per month.